News archive

Australia will allow the construction of taller timber structures up to 8 storeys—or 25 metres—for residential and commercial buildings from May 1 this year.
The change in the National Construction Code (NCC) comes about after a two-year consultation and research process submitted by Forest and Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA), …

New advanced satellite maps of tropical countries reveal that more than 90 percent of recent tree cover loss took place in natural forests rather than plantations, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity, research shows.
The maps mark a breakthrough in forest monitoring that allows researchers to distinguish between natural growth and oil palm, …

The Confederation of Timber Industry (CTI) and Proskills have launched an employer skill survey to identify the current level of skills shortage within the UK timber industry supply chain.
The research will highlight gaps between supply and demand, and identify areas of strength and excellence offering a catalyst for the engagement of the …

EXPOBOIS, the trade fair for the french forestry and woodworking industry, will take place in Paris, Villepinte, from 22 to 25 November 2016. For the first time Deutsche Messe AG will be cooperating with the French industry association for machine and production technology SYMOP (Syndicat des Machines et Technologies de Production).
The …

Huge Speechly has been appointed as FLEGT Facilitator to accelerate the preliminary negotiations on a FLEGT VPA in Myanmar, according to the ITTO.
Dr Marlene Buchy was earlier appointed as Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Forestry.
The EU's FLEGT Action Plan was established in 2003. It aims to reduce illegal logging by …

Raute’s net sales in 2015 is expected to hit EUR 127 million (2014: EUR 94 million). Operating profit is expected to be approximately EUR 8.1 million (2014: EUR 2.6 million), according to the company’s preliminary information.
The order intake for 2015 was about EUR 145 million and order book as at December 31, 2015, amounted to …

Turkish MDF manufacturer Yildiz Entegre has signed two wood fibre supply contracts with AEG WoodFibre.
Under the contracts’ terms, the AEG WoodFibre division of Active Energy Group Plc will deliver up to 300,000 metric tonnes of hardwood fibre and 200,000 metric tonnes of softwood fibre.
These contracts are expected to generate …

Spending in U.S. non-residential construction slowed down at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from summer to November 2015, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Building construction declined with the exception of office buildings and public schools. Spending was lower than previously reported for much of 2015 after the government revised …

Europe’s construction sector is expected to grow 3% to €1412 billion this year, with an annual growth of at least two percentage points projected for the next two years. The figures reflect a more optimistic outlook compared to a previous forecast of 2.4%. The sector is expected to grow 1.6% compared to the previous forecast of …

China’s Redwood log imports fell 57% to 628,300m3 in the first three quarters of 2015, according to the Chinese Redwood Committee. The average price for logs declined 15% in the same period while earnings dropped 64% YoY to US$705 million.
Sawn imports fell more than half the volume and value totaling 89,000m3 and US$161 …